Poncho having heating and cooling properties

ABSTRACT

A wearable poncho for allowing a user exposed to an extreme temperature, whether extreme heat or extreme cold, to selectably cover their body or a body part so as to allow the user to obtain protection from said extreme temperature. The wearable poncho comprises a modified poncho base having a watertight outer nylon layer, an insulation layer disposed inside said nylon layer, and a gel layer disposed inside said insulation layer, wherein the poncho base includes a receiving opening adapted to receive a head, a head covering hood disposed near said receiving opening, and an elongated sealable closure. This structure allows the wearable poncho to provide portable protection from not just precipitation and cold, but from extreme cold and extreme heat, without having to be preheated or pre-cooled by some external means.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates generally to wearable protective garments and,more particularly, to a removable poncho which has both heating andcooling properties.

2. Description of the Prior Art

The dangers which can result from prolonged, unprotected exposure toextreme temperatures are well known. Prolonged, unprotected exposure toextreme heat can cause one to suffer from ailments such as heat strokeand heat exhaustion, while prolonged, unprotected exposure to extremecold can lead to injuries such as frostbite and Hypothermia. As such, itis typically a necessity for individuals who will be exposed to extremetemperatures to keep items with them which can provided protection fromthe extreme temperature. In this sense, coats or blankets (includingheating blankets) are often useful for protection in extreme cold whileshading or cooling implements are often useful for protection in extremeheat.

Ponchos are well known as an outer garment designed to keep the bodywarm or, if made from a watertight material, to keep dry during rain. Aponcho is essentially a single large fabric having at least a headreceiving opening disposed near the center and a piece of fabric adaptedto cover the head. As such, it is not uncommon for a poncho to be usedto in circumstances where a user is seeking protection from relativelycold temperatures.

A problem which still exists, however, is that existing items forproviding protection when one will be exposed to extreme heat or extremecold are typically limited to providing protection from either heat orcold. In other words, items designed for protection from extreme coldare typically not useful for protection from extreme heat while itemsdesigned for protection from extreme heat are typically not useful forprotection from extreme cold. For customary ponchos, this problem isembodied by their typical ability to provide some protection from coldand inability to provide protection from extreme heat. It is furthernoted, that ponchos are not typically adapted to provide protection fromextreme cold. Furthermore, all existing items for providing ambienttemperature related protection often require external heating orrefrigeration implements, sometimes in provided in advance, for them toprovide their optimal efficacy.

Thus, there remains a need for a single wearable item which couldprovide protection from extreme heat and extreme cold temperatures. Itwould be desirable for such a wearable item to be easily portable so asto be available to be used in emergency situations to treat injuriesfrom extreme heat or extreme cold. It would be helpful if such a singlewearable item could be wrapped and sealed around a person. It would beadditionally desirable for such a wearable item to not at any pointrequire external heating or refrigeration in order to provide theiroptimal efficacy.

The Applicant's invention described herein provides for a wearableponcho adapted to provide protection to a user from either extreme heator extreme cold. The primary components of Applicant's wearable ponchoare a poncho base having a receiving opening adapted to receive a headand an elongated sealable closure which include a watertight outerlayer, an insulation layer, and a gel layer. When in operation, thewearable poncho allows a user exposed to extreme heat to obtainprotection said heat and a user exposed to extreme cold to obtainprotection said cold, all without requiring external heating orrefrigeration. As a result, many of the limitations imposed by existingwearable temperature protection items are removed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A wearable poncho for allowing a user exposed to an extreme temperature,whether extreme heat or extreme cold, to selectably cover their body ora body part so as to allow the user to obtain protection from saidextreme temperature. The wearable poncho comprises a modified ponchobase having a watertight outer nylon layer, an insulation layer disposedinside said nylon layer, and a gel layer disposed inside said insulationlayer, wherein the poncho base includes a receiving opening adapted toreceive a head, a head covering hood disposed near said receivingopening, and an elongated sealable closure. This structure allows thewearable poncho to provide portable protection from not justprecipitation and cold, but from extreme cold and extreme heat, withouthaving to be preheated or pre-cooled by some external means.

It is an object of this invention to provide a wearable poncho whichcould provide protection from extreme heat and extreme coldtemperatures.

It is another object of this invention to provide a wearable ponchowhich is easily portable so as to be available to be used in emergencysituations to treat injuries or wounds from extreme heat or extremecold.

It is yet another object of this invention to provide a wearable ponchowhich can be wrapped and sealed around a person.

It is still another object of this invention to provide a wearableponcho which does not at any point require external heating orrefrigeration in order to provide their optimal efficacy.

These and other objects will be apparent to one of skill in the art.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of a wearable poncho bar built inaccordance with the present invention having sealable closure closed.

FIG. 2 is a front elevational view of a wearable poncho bar built inaccordance with the present invention having sealable closure open.

FIG. 3 is a cross sectional view of the structure layers of a wearableponcho bar built in accordance with the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring now to the drawings and in particular FIG. 1, a wearableponcho 10 is shown as a garment body 11 having a receiving opening 12adapted to receive a head, a head covering hood 13 disposed near saidreceiving opening (shown in a down position), and an elongated sealableclosure 14. The garment body 11, along with the hood 13 when in an upposition is sized and structurally configured to fully cover the upperbody and substantially cover the lower body of a wearer in a mannersimilar to conventional ponchos. In the preferred embodiment, garmentbody measures 56″ by 90.″ In addition the hood 13 includes a drawstringwhich allows the size and fit of the hood to be selectively adjusted bythe user.

Referring now to FIG. 2, the wearable poncho 10 is shown with theelongated sealable closure 14 partially open. The sealable closure 14 isdefined by an elongated opening in the garment body 11 having a hook andloop fastener system which, when engaged, can be covered by a flap.Consequently, the garment body 11 can be split open along the elongatedopening to allow for easy putting on or removing of the poncho 10 whilestill allowing the garment body 11 to form a complete cover around awearer. When the sealable closure 14 is open, a first side 14 a and asecond side 14 b of the garment body 11, both created by the split inthe garment body 11 surface which defines the sealable closure 14, isvisible. Along the edge of both the first side 14 a and the second side14 b are opposing portions of the hook and loop fastener system so as toallow the edge of the first side 14 a and the second side 14 b tosecurely engage to fasten the first side 14 a and the second side 14 btogether and to be pulled apart to open first side 14 a and the secondside 14 b.

The poncho 10 is typically put on by a wearer by first opening thesealable closure 14 and splitting open the garment body 11 and slidingthe poncho 11 over the user's head. Once on, the sealable closure 14 isclosed. It is understood, however, that the poncho can also be slid overmany users from the head down to put on and slid up and off many users.The hood 13 can be flipped into an up position and selectively worn andtightened or kept down as desired or required by the user.

Referring now to FIG. 3, the garment body 11 is defined by threediscrete layers of material. A watertight outer nylon layer 15 is theoutside layer visible from the outside of the poncho 10. The nylon 15layer provides for the watertight nature of the garment body 11. Aninsulation layer 16 is disposed inside said nylon layer 15. Theinsulation layer 16 is a polyester material adapted to insulate heat orcold temperatures inside the poncho 10. A gel layer 17 is disposedinside said insulation layer 16. The gel layer 17 is a non-toxic silicagel which when squeezed, produces a cooling effect. As a result, whenthe poncho 10 is worn for protection from extreme heat, the gel layer 17can be activated by squeezing the gel in the gel layer 17 so as toproduce cooling, and much of such cooling is kept inside the poncho 10by the insulating layer 16. In contrast, when the poncho 10 is worn forprotection from extreme cold, gel layer 17 adsorbs any moisture from theuser's body while the insulating layer 16 keeps the user's body heatinside the poncho and causes the moisture in the gel layer 17 to beheated.

In an alternate embodiment of the present invention, the garment body 11includes arm openings sized to allow the arms of a user wearing theponcho 10 to be positioned outside of the poncho 10.

The instant invention has been shown and described herein in what isconsidered to be the most practical and preferred embodiment. It isrecognized, however, that departures may be made therefrom within thescope of the invention and that obvious modifications will occur to aperson skilled in the art.

What is claimed is:
 1. A wearable poncho to be worn by a wearercomprising: a garment body having a receiving opening adapted to receivethe head of the wearer and allow the head to be positioned outside theponcho while the poncho is being worn so that it covers the body of thewearer, wherein said garment body is defined by an outer layer ofwaterproof material, an intermediate layer of insulating materialdisposed inside said outer layer, and an inner layer of material adaptedto cool down when squeezed and disposed inside said outer layer.
 2. Thewearable poncho of claim 1, wherein said garment body additionallyincludes a hood adapted to cover the head of the wearer of the wearableponcho.
 3. The wearable poncho of claim 2, wherein said hood includes adrawstring configured to allow the hood to be selectively tightened andloosened.
 4. The wearable poncho of claim 1, wherein said garment bodyadditionally includes an elongated sealable closure defined by anelongated split in the garment body and a first side and a second sideof the garment body, wherein the first side and the second side eachinclude an opposing portion of a fastener so as to allow the first sideto be removably sealed to the second side.
 5. The wearable poncho ofclaim 4, wherein the fastener is a hook and loop fastener.
 6. Thewearable poncho of claim 1, wherein the outer layer is nylon.
 7. Thewearable poncho of claim 1, wherein the intermediate layer is polyester.8. The wearable poncho of claim 1, wherein the inner layer is non-toxicsilica gel.
 9. The wearable poncho of claim 1, wherein said garment bodyadditionally includes arm openings sized to allow the arms of a userwearing the poncho to be positioned outside of the poncho while theponcho is being worn.
 10. A wearable poncho to be worn by a wearercomprising: a garment body having a receiving opening adapted to receivethe head of the wearer, a hood adapted to cover the head of the wearerof the wearable poncho, and an elongated sealable closure defined by anelongated split in the garment body and a first side and a second sideof the garment body, wherein the first side and the second side eachinclude an opposing portion of a fastener so as to allow the first sideto be removably sealed to the second side; wherein said garment body isdefined by an outer layer of waterproof material, an intermediate layerof insulating material disposed inside said outer layer, and an innerlayer of material adapted to cool down when squeezed and disposed insidesaid outer layer; wherein said hood includes a drawstring configured toallow the hood to be selectively tightened and loosened; wherein thefastener is a hook and loop fastener; and wherein the outer layer isnylon, the intermediate layer is polyester, and the inner layer isnon-toxic silica gel.